Market Open: Hang Seng seen lower on further profit taking in developers

The Hang Seng Index could face more falls if investors continue to take profit in the property sector following Monday's slump triggered by concerns of a decline in property transactions and in prices.

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The Hang Seng Index could face more falls if investors continue to take profit in the property sector following Monday's slump triggered by concerns of a decline in property transactions and in prices.

Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia, said a 10 to 15 per cent correction for property stocks would be “reasonable”, at which point bargain-hunters would appear.

Meanwhile, declines could be offset by gains in the financial sector. Third-quarter earnings by three of China's "big four" lenders beat forecasts. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (1368.HK) and CHALCO (2600.HK) are among a batch of firms due to report earnings later in the day.

The US stock market was closed on Monday due to the so-called “superstorm in the United States. In London, the FTSE-100 Index closed down 11.61 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 5,795.1.

Hot Stocks of the Day:

BYD (1211.HK)
The automaker's third-quarter net profit for the September quarter was 4.6 million yuan, down by 94 per cent from a year earlier. And it expects 2012 earnings to fall by 98 per cent after reporting a sharp decline for the last quarter.

The Chinese lender, in which Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria holds a 15 per cent stake, said net profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 was 7.85 billion yuan, down from 9.20 billion yuan a year earlier. That fell short of forecasts by analysts polled by Dow Jones.

New China Life Insurance (1336.HK)
The insurer said net profit for July-September period dropped by 15 per cent to 420 million yuan from a year earlier.